June 2014

June 09, 2014

I said I would get to the part about Rigby challenging his bottom-rung-on-the-ladder status, and here we go. Roxy and Rigby’s relationship has always been fine. Not amazing, just fine. They get along. Rigby couldn’t care less about Roxy’s presence and Roxy needs to control everything Rigby does. Recently something boiled over. We aren’t even sure what did it exactly, but Roxy had enough and decided that Rigby wasn’t welcome anymore. Within in four days we had four dog fights in our house. Each time we broke them up, but they were escalating in viciousness. Roxy tore part of Rigby’s ear once and then actually peeled the skin back from the same ear another time.

We’d had enough. After the last (and most vicious) fight, I broke down in tears. Why was she acting this way? Why wouldn’t she stop? Rigby was already a nervous guy and now he was afraid to walk near her. He started sitting in corners and staring at the wall because he was afraid to face her. That wasn’t right.

We reached out to the place that had always supported me before – the PWCCSC. Beth and Dr. Becky were incredibly supportive and I think a little worried we would feel the need to rehome Roxy. Let me be clear, we would never do that. She’s part of our life and out home. I can’t imagine not coming home to that roar and that wiggly butt of fluff every day. But this was still a problem. We needed to reboot the dominance hierarchy in our house immediately.

The conversation with Dr. Becky was pretty eye-opening. We had a tenuous grasp on dominance in our house, at best. Roxy certainly seemed to think she needed to step up to the plate, and her scapegoat was poor Rigby. Dr. Becky told me something along the lines of, “If Roxy even looks at Rigby the wrong way, she needs to think she will die.” Obviously, she was being hyperbolic, but the point was clear. We also needed to adjust things like eating locations, feeding schedules, walks, and how they were left at home when we weren’t there. Before we could even get to the point of them coexisting in the house, we had to scare the life out of her. When she would throw a look or glare in Rigby’s direction, we would grab her scruﬀ, ﬂip her onto her back, and get right into her face and tell her “NO.” But we did it in a fairly melodramatic fashion. She had to think we might kill her if she didn’t start following these new rules, and quickly at that.

Feeding: We stopped feeding them in the same room. They never stole each other’s food, but we didn’t need another opportunity for a ﬁght. They are now fed in their crates where they can’t see each other. I don’t know if this is because Roxy isn’t within his sight when he is eating, but Rigby has never been so comfortable and consistent with his eating. He has always had a nervous/anxious stomach and often passed on a meal or two. The jury’s still out on exactly why, but I have a suspicion that having Roxy eating four feet away didn’t help the situation. Now, he eats with gusto and unmitigated joy. We also took away all treats for the ﬁrst month. We now will give them treats and “chewies,” but Rigby is always fed ﬁrst and the “chewies” are given to them in separate rooms, with a baby gate blocking anyone’s desire to steal from the other one. !

Walks: Both dogs heel on walks and are generally respectful when doing so, but I typically walk Roxy, and we would walk in front of my husband and Rigby. We changed that, and now we walk behind my husband and Rigby, just to reinforce Roxy that she is NOT the top dog. !

Leaving Them Alone: They are never allowed to be together when we are not home, ever. Even our dog sitter has to make sure there is at least a doggie gate separating them. If they were to get in a ﬁght when we weren’t there, we might be starting over again - or worse. We won’t take that chance.!

I am happy to say that it only took a few of those ﬂips before Roxy decided controlling and bullying Rigby wasn’t worth it. In fact, she even decided to get up and leave the room when he came into it. She did that for a few days before she was comfortable being in the same room. It may sound harsh, but she was doing the right thing by choosing to remove herself from a situation as opposed to dominating it. She eventually started earning privileges back. We soon started with her on a leash tethered to all the time. Then she just had a leash connected to her for our use if needed, and then was leash-free. Finally, she was allowed to instigate play with Rigby again, though it’s always monitored, because she can get over-stimulated when they play, which could lead to a ﬁght. !

It took some tough love, but she has decided that being obedient and ignoring what the other dog is doing is a better life for her (and for us). We have set clearer boundaries and she is abiding by them. She slips up once in a while… after all, being bad is so fun! But, for the most part, she is a better dog now that we are clearer with our expectations and quicker with our corrections. We know it’s a process and that we can never let down our guard, and we’ll have to remain vigilant for the rest of her life. But that’s okay; we learned a lot from this as well.

Roxy is the happiest dog I have ever met in my life. She loves with every fiber. Sometimes I think of that story, “Stone Fox” and I worry that this little corgi’s heart will burst from love. And I don’t want it to. I want her here with me forever. As she gets older (and grayer) I try not to think of the time I will have to say goodbye to this little dog that was given up by someone years ago. Their loss.

For me, I have never felt as close to a dog as I do to her. Even when that devilish nature of hers comes out and makes me pull out my hair in frustration, she makes up for it when she lays next to the couch, facing the door, guarding me from any would-be predators. This dog stole our hearts that first day we met her at Beth’s house. I am not sure Rigby would quite put it that way. She probably didn’t steal his heart, but she certainly stole all of his toys. But he seems content with the way it is. We are too.